Field
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to the field of wireless networks. In particular, various embodiments relate to obtaining positioning information of managed network appliances via a mobile device to facilitate proper channel utilization, maintenance planning and debugging by a wireless access point controller in a large wireless local area network (WLAN) environment.
Description of the Related Art
Wireless access points (APs) are deployed to cover public areas, offices, enterprise campuses, households and the like so that Wi-Fi-enabled devices may be connected to a private network or the Internet through a wireless network. When a large number of APs are deployed in an enterprise network, the wireless APs are connected to a wireless access point controller (AC) and are managed by the AC. The AC may also be a cloud-based AC that manages APs across the Internet. Some wireless network planning tools, such as Fortinet's FortiPlanner software, have been introduced to facilitate planning of wireless networks. The planning tools may import a floor-plan of a building, draw in obstructions, select the type of APs and automatically calculate the number and placement of APs. The tools may use sophisticated signal propagation ray tracing algorithms to estimate signal loss and bounce based on objects that can cause radio frequency interference, such as walls, windows and elevator shafts. The planning tools may select various deployment scenarios such as Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), high priority data or normal, to ensure adequate wireless Local Area Network (LAN) coverage and prepare a plan including the number and placement of APs within the venue at issue. When a large number of APs are deployed pursuant to a particular plan, it is not easy for the AC to collect information about which AP is deployed at a particular position. In addition, the positions where APs are actually deployed may differ slightly from the planned positions and it is not easy to collect the actual positions of the APs. For a cloud-based AC, the position information of APs that are managed by the cloud-based AC is usually input manually. The administrator of the AC may place pins on a map to indicate positions of APs. However, the positions indicated by the pins may also differ from the actual positions of the APs.
For better management of APs, an AC needs the position information, such as the global positioning system (GPS) coordinates or relative coordinates, of each AP that is managed by the AC. With the position information of APs, a planning tool of the AC may optimize coverage solutions, optimize channel utilization and maintain and debug deployments of APs. The AC may also triangulate the WiFi clients' locations if position information for the managed APs is available. The AC may support auto-provisioning based on the location or country of the APs. The position information of APs is also very useful in identifying a faulty AP by its location, altitude, terrain etc. Actual deployment positions of the network appliances, including, but not limited to APs, are also valuable for inventory management of the network. Therefore, there is a need for efficiently collecting and managing position information of network appliances by network controllers.